Westford photo club offers shutterbugs a space to share and learn

Friday

Is photography your hobby? Is it the way you express yourself through art?

There is a group in Westford for you.

Tucked away in the J.V. Fletcher Library for the last 36 years, the Nashoba Valley Photo Club is home base for everyone from professional photographers to hobbyists.

The club was founded in 1982 by six residents, pulling members from towns around the region and southern New Hampshire, who, after finishing a photography course, made the decision to gather like-minds and socialize around their passion for film. Current club president Jim Coutre said at the end of the day the idea was to "make photography fun."

"[The founders] thought, 'why should we lose this,'" said Coutre, a Concord resident and retired photographer. "Let put a social group together and improve photography, change it from, I can take a picture, to I can make a picture."

The club is a member of the New England Camera Club Council which provides educational materials, programing and connections to other photo clubs around the state.

According to the Photographic Society of America's website, there are currently 15 active camera groups around Massachusetts. There are around 90 clubs in greater New England, according to Coutre.

"Each of the clubs has their own flavor," said Coutre.

Much like its home in the town's Main Street library, the club's mission of making photography fun has not changed, but the group has expanded its horizons when it comes to photo genres.

"It started out with prints, negatives and slides and gone into digital," said Coutre adding that the club is now 100 percent digital. He said this helps when it comes to to submitting photos to competitions. He said each participant is only allowed to use a photo taken within the last 18 months.

Three decades later, Coutre said the Nashoba Valley club as expanded to just around 100 members the majority of which are continually active in events and trips. Most range in their 30s or 40s, but younger people have joined the group the learn the craft and showcase their own art. Some of who are young enough to come to the club while attending Littleton High School.

The club meets each Wednesday and holds what Coutre called "salons," forums where members can learn more about photography through judges brought in to look a their work and from one another. Coutre and club member-at-large/publicity chairman Bob Fesmire encouraged anyone interested in the group to come out and discover what they do in person. For a new member application and more information on joining the Nashoba Valley club go to their website.